Information about camping, hiking, fishing. etc. in the Great Smokies National Park.
A recent uptick in bear sightings has prompted Gatlinburg officials to issue a reminder to locals and visitors alike to watch out for bears and avoid any interaction with them. City officials are concerned for the safety of the bears and humans and issued a reminder of six basics for safe human-bear interaction: Never feed
In classrooms throughout North Carolina and Oklahoma, students are learning about the periodic table of elements or the origins of the Civil War. However, in some classrooms, the lessons are a bit more personal — Cherokee students are learning the history and language of their people. Cherokee speakers have made great efforts to keep their
A half-mile, paved trail designated the John Oliver Cabin Accessible Trail has been opened in Cades Cove. The trail is around 8-ft. wide so as to allow adequate space for wheelchairs or other mobility devices to pass one another. “The work of making our parks more accessible for all is so important,” Superintendent Cassius Cash
It was 1923, when Willis Davis, President of Knoxville Iron Company, and his wife Anne Davis began a crusade for the establishment of a National Park in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee and North Carolina. Inspired by their trips to Parks in the Western U.S., the Davises became instrumental in what eventually became Great
Great Smoky Mountains National Park has implemented a “pilot project” to charge visitors $14 to park near Laurel Falls, a popular waterfall near Gatlinburg. The National Park Service says the “congestion management project” will operate through Oct. 3. “During the pilot project, trailhead parking will be provided by reservation only and no parking will be
This is a photo that was taken alongside the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail near Gatlinburg. It was taken out the car window as the cubs and their mother foraged around near the road for several minutes. The young cubs were obviously in the early process of just learning how to climb trees. Click for
A 73-year-old Georgia man recently drowned at Abrams Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and a seven-hour rescue operation involving divers was conducted to retrieve his body. Stephen Musser of Roswell, Georgia, had been swimming in a large pool near Abrams Falls on Friday, Aug. 27. He was caught up in the current
This year (2021) is the bicentennial of the Cherokee Syllabary – a system of writing the Cherokee language developed over years by Sequoyah in the early 1800s. “Searching for Sequoyah”, produced by James M. Fortier and LeAnne Howe, will air on PBS stations nationwide starting in November and examines not only that major accomplishment but
An injured hiker was rescued Friday in Great Smoky Mountains National Park after falling about 200 feet down an embankment, officials said. Park rangers and personnel from the Townsend Area Volunteer Fire Department were called to the Spruce Flats Falls Trail shortly before 4 p.m. after a female hiker slid off the trail and down
Big changes are underway for the cabins at historic Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Funding is now in place to make progress on the plans unveiled in 2009 to preserve 19 cabins and destroy 55 others. Since those plans were announced, the Appalachian Clubhouse and Spence Cabin were restored in 2012 while
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